Ross Valley’s controversial flood fee was hiked 3 percent
Tuesday, helping pay for a public relations campaign smoothing
the waters for projects that will turn key park areas into flood
retention basins.
“By recycling more water, capturing storm runoff and boosting
efficiency on farms and at home, California would have more than
enough water to cover its needs, even during a drought, the
authors of a new report said Tuesday.”
“When Rosalinda Cardenas was a kid, her parents warned her often:
Stay away from the Pacoima Wash. A few blocks from her home
on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, the concrete-encased flood control
channel was barricaded by rusty chain-link fences, broken glass
and garbage.”
“After more than a year of delay, critical work to strengthen
levees in Sacramento’s Natomas Basin is authorized to resume
following a crucial vote Tuesday in Congress.”
“The House of Representatives, on a vote of 412-4, approved
legislation to move an array of Sacramento-area flood control
projects forward, concluding [Rep. Doris] Matsui’s nearly
four-year quest for the bill.”
“Flood control projects in California’s Central Valley get a
boost in a long-awaited water resources bill now flowing toward
final congressional approval.”
“Goodbye Menlo Wash, the submerged dip at the border of San
Jacinto and Hemet, and no more cars straddling the Santa Fe
Avenue centerline to avoid stalling out in storm runoff in San
Jacinto’s Midway area.”
“When Bob Cullen took a job with the Riverside County Flood
Control District, his supervisors put him to work immediately on
the proposed Arroyo del Toro channel in Lake Elsinore.
“We all — well, most of us — know that global warming means a
higher risk of coastal flooding, particularly in low-lying areas
susceptible to increasingly intense storm systems.
From the California Department of Water Resources (DWR):
“To preserve agriculture, flood protection and wildlife habitat,
the Knaggs Ranch project completed this month will help determine
if floodplains doing double duty growing rice and other crops can
also be used as nurseries for salmon.”
“There’s no easy fix for the National Flood Insurance Program,
now drowning in a $24 billion sea of red ink.
“But experts and advocates say Congress does have some options
that could make the troubled program financially stable, more
affordable and more effective at motivating change in
communities built too close to the water.”
“Earlier this month, Congress sought to ease their fears of
sky-high premiums by rolling back a 2012 reform ending the
government’s costly practice of offering subsidized insurance for
older homes and businesses in flood zones. The president signed
the bill Friday.”
“As California’s historic drought worsens by the day, Silicon
Valley’s main water provider faces a difficult choice: Risk
catastrophic flooding if a major earthquake strikes its largest
dam — or drain billions of gallons of water from the reservoir
behind it to make repairs.”
“A bill introduced into the California Legislature on Monday by a
state senator would streamline the regulatory process for Salinas
River channel-clearing projects.”
“A $600,000 consultant will conduct geotechnical studies and
preliminary design work for expansion of Phoenix Lake into both a
reservoir and runoff retention basin as part of ambitious plans
to control flooding in the Ross Valley.”
“President Barack Obama is set to sign into law a bipartisan
bill relieving homeowners living in flood-prone neighborhoods
from big increases in their insurance bills.
“The legislation, which cleared Congress on Thursday, reverses
much of a 2012 overhaul of the government’s much-criticized
flood insurance program after angry homeowners facing sharp
premium hikes protested.”
“The Senate voted 72 to 22 Thursday to pass a flood insurance
bill that will roll back sharp premium increases to homeowners
that were implemented as part of a federal overhaul of the flood
insurance program.”
“Two things became clear halfway through a Regional Water Board
meeting in Salinas Thursday morning: Everybody wants to
cooperate but factions often have differing and passionate
views on how to clear the Salinas River channel to prevent
flooding.
“Presentations by the Regional Quality Control Board staff, The
Nature Conservancy and a coalition of farmers and farming
interests all complemented each other in seeking
collaboratively to find ways to address flood protection along
the 94-mile stretch of river while providing safe habitat for
endangered
